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A Week at the Movies
3 years ago
General
This week I'm taking advantage of an opportunity to watch a bunch of movies I've been sitting on.
HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY: THE REN & STIMPY STORY (2020)
Two indisputable facts: THE REN & STIMPY SHOW (1991-95) changed the course of animation history, and series creator John Kricfalusi turned out to be his own worst enemy. Watching the slow motion trainwreck of this story should be a cautionary tale, but how could it be when some people would rather drive off a cliff than follow the rational course of action? Careful, though: it's just as true that you don't have to fuck people over to survive. The truly difficult lesson here is that everyone deserves respect, even the undeserving.
KING OF JAZZ (1930)
If you're at all curious about the "sophisticated" pop music of the 1920s, here's a visually beautiful, genially racist, and very weird musical/comedy revue showcasing bandleader and human caricature Paul Whiteman, king of a stately, symphonic "jazz" with no black people (but you do get to see white dancer Jacques Cartier in head-to-toe black body paint and sexy short shorts in the "jungle" prelude to "Rhapsody in Blue"). Young Bing Crosby appears with the Rhythm Boys, a vocal trio of which he was clearly the star, and the movie begins with the very first Technicolor cartoon, animated by Walter Lantz and Bill Nolan, featuring a cameo by Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. The movie sank like a stone at the box office.
PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE (2002)
"So, where do we go, then?"
I'd forgotten how much I like this movie. Novelty toilet plunger salesman Barry's (Adam Sandler) obsessive collection of frequent flyer miles he'll never use is interrupted early one morning by the arrival of a harmonium he can't play and a woman he can't talk to, Lena (Emily Watson); cool and composed, but with issues of her own, she'll become "Gay Boy" Barry's first-ever girlfriend.
This art house romantic comedy seems twisted only because it acknowledges that psychologically, violence goes hand in hand with passion; violence can be liberating as well as the first resort of morons (we get to see both in this movie). Not your typical romantic comedy, but then who's your typical romantic couple?
HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY: THE REN & STIMPY STORY (2020)
Two indisputable facts: THE REN & STIMPY SHOW (1991-95) changed the course of animation history, and series creator John Kricfalusi turned out to be his own worst enemy. Watching the slow motion trainwreck of this story should be a cautionary tale, but how could it be when some people would rather drive off a cliff than follow the rational course of action? Careful, though: it's just as true that you don't have to fuck people over to survive. The truly difficult lesson here is that everyone deserves respect, even the undeserving.
KING OF JAZZ (1930)
If you're at all curious about the "sophisticated" pop music of the 1920s, here's a visually beautiful, genially racist, and very weird musical/comedy revue showcasing bandleader and human caricature Paul Whiteman, king of a stately, symphonic "jazz" with no black people (but you do get to see white dancer Jacques Cartier in head-to-toe black body paint and sexy short shorts in the "jungle" prelude to "Rhapsody in Blue"). Young Bing Crosby appears with the Rhythm Boys, a vocal trio of which he was clearly the star, and the movie begins with the very first Technicolor cartoon, animated by Walter Lantz and Bill Nolan, featuring a cameo by Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. The movie sank like a stone at the box office.
PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE (2002)
"So, where do we go, then?"
I'd forgotten how much I like this movie. Novelty toilet plunger salesman Barry's (Adam Sandler) obsessive collection of frequent flyer miles he'll never use is interrupted early one morning by the arrival of a harmonium he can't play and a woman he can't talk to, Lena (Emily Watson); cool and composed, but with issues of her own, she'll become "Gay Boy" Barry's first-ever girlfriend.
This art house romantic comedy seems twisted only because it acknowledges that psychologically, violence goes hand in hand with passion; violence can be liberating as well as the first resort of morons (we get to see both in this movie). Not your typical romantic comedy, but then who's your typical romantic couple?
GabrielLaVedier
~gabriellavedier
I literally can't say you're incorrect about the John K matter, I just happen to have a different view. I've changed from this stated view. I grew up with some form of Omniforgiveness (I was raised Catholic, you could just whisper a little to the man in the box and you were instantly absolved from issues of masturbation, werewolf porn, masturbating to werewolf porn, petty theft, and other things). I stopped believing in forgiving people a while after I stopped believing in a god, because he was the fairy tale that forced you to do it. I genuinely think that sometimes, people are never to be forgiven, but also, some people intentionally dare you to do it, to crack them across the face with rebar. Frankly, I wouldn't have cared if someone had run a combine harvester over the "The Jews will not replace our blood and soil" people on the slowest speed setting. I literally would not care. Because they were unforgivable. And my view falls under "No one should be tolerant of intolerance." Because of the Prisoner's Dilemma. If Chad Brad Spad Himmerworthingtonsmythe VII of Martha's Aryan Colony wants me dead because I have a last name with a Z in it, and the rest of my family, and like 90% of my friends for that reason and various Ls, Bs, Ts, Gs, Qs and more, he doesn't have a say in how I treat him or his best pals Heinrich Whiteguyname And Harvard Yale Princeton Goebbels the keeper of the stolen Native American bones.
roochak
~roochak
OP
I'd swear this was a rant by John K himself.
GabrielLaVedier
~gabriellavedier
I am a weird man, deeply weird, and a man. But, funny story, I am not a pedophile, which is the key difference. Why are so many random people pedophiles? Like, if you get famous you're going to be a peedie. Gary Glitter, Jimmy Saville, R. Kelly, John K., Roy Moore, Roman Polanski, freakin' Jared from Subway. What is wrong with the famous men?
